new swords on bottom

[traco1]

I have some neon swords, koi swords and sterbais in a QT tank. 33 gallon, cycled, temp 76, no amm or nitrites, nitrates 10-20. Doing daily water changes, maybe 1/4 tank. I've lost 3 kois already, 1 on arrival, 2 more in the last week. Have had them one week. There are 2 more sitting on the bottom of the tank.

What to do? The neons and sterbais are totally fine. Are they going to make it and are kois more sensitive?

Thanks in advance.

[CACAdmin]

Sorry to hear of your troubles with your koi swords. Did you get all the kois from the same place? If they are all from one batch, there could be a number of reasons for your troubles. One could be that they all are suffering from some parasite or bacterial infection. The other is that they may have had a difficult rime in transit. This could include possibly not have had adequate resting time to recover between & after shippings (between breeder/wholesaler/retailer/you).

As you know sitting on the bottom isn't a good sign. What I would do, is keep the lights off and try to give them more of a chance to rest. If you don't already have plants in the q-tank, add some (real or plastic). That could help make them feel more secure and reduce stress.

Good luck with them! Keep us posted.

[ChrissyFishy]

Livebearers are sometimes weaker especially albinos. They have to come from good stores who have good suppliers or breeders. Were they packed with one fish in each bag and lots of air and a warming pack? I have been reading the shipping links :rolleyes: . Get well soon little fish!

[Shelley]

That sucks Barb. I think its just weak fish. I always had problems with Koi.Almost every Koi I have seen come into town have been long skinny fish that are starting to look sunkin in. I gave up:rolleyes: Soooo I no longer have any Koi...
it was just too fustrating.

[traco1]

After this, I'm beginning to think so too. Especially all other fish that came with them are just fine, no problems.

[Melody]

Albinos are heavily inbred because the gene is recessive. The Koi pattern is also recessive so that discourages outcrossing to other albino colour forms. When breeding for traits we risk breeding bad traits into the line, hence why outcrossing is done.

Combine that with the fact that a lot of the retail fish come out of the Orient or massive US farms where antibiotics and other med's are used routinely to keep the fish healthy, and you're bound to have problems with them.

If you can get a brood out of them, usually the fry do better but any I've owned have always been far more delicate than other fish. Even the fry seem especially prone to belly sliders, deformaties, etc. Hopefully yours prove to be the exceptions.

[traco1]

Down to two now, hopefully they will be fine. There sure is a lot more to putting this male with that female, I'm finding. I'm going to stick with standard swordtails, I think. Concentrate on keeping them healthy, well and breeding some nice fry. Understand the basics and maybe eventually delve further into something fancier.

Thanks you all for your info and input. It is helpful.